Romney scores 3 early wins on Super Tuesday

WASHINGTON - Mitt Romney scored three early victories as he reached for a commanding lead in the Republican presidential race on Super Tuesday, the busiest day of the chaotic campaign to choose a rival for President Barack Obama.

Mr. Romney won in Virginia, Vermont and Massachusetts, where he had served as governor. His main rival, Rick Santorum, won in Tennessee. Newt Gingrich took his home state of Georgia.

Mr. Romney and Mr. Santorum, were running close in Ohio, the day’s marquee race.

With contests in 10 states, the day marked a key point in the Republican race. Mr. Romney, the clear, yet battered, front-runner, looked to prove his appeal across the country and demonstrate that the party’s conservative base, long wary of him, is finally rallying behind his candidacy.

Mr. Santorum, a former U.S. senator, had to prove that he still has a clear shot at the nomination, overcoming Mr. Romney’s momentum from recent wins and his advantage in money and organization. He also needed to keep Mr. Romney from building a runaway lead in the tally of delegates who will ultimately determine the Republican nominee.

Mr. Gingrich, who has twice soared to the top of the field only to fade, needed the win in Georgia to keep his campaign alive. Despite the victory, Mr. Gingrich, a former speaker of the House of Representatives who represented a Georgia district for two decades, remains a long shot for the nomination, but his continued candidacy could ultimately help Mr. Romney by siphoning conservative votes from Mr. Santorum.

At stake Tuesday were 419 delegates, more than a third of the 1,144 delegates needed to win the nomination at the party national convention in late August in Tampa, Florida. With Tuesday’s results coming in, Mr. Romney was leading with 267 to Mr. Santorum’s 92, according to Associated Press projections. By winning at least 23 delegates in Georgia, Mr. Gingrich now has 56. Congressman Ron Paul has 25.

Mr. Romney had been almost certain to win in Virginia, where he shared the ballot with only Paul, after neither Mr. Santorum nor Mr. Gingrich met filing requirements. He had been favoured to win in the two north-eastern states, Vermont and Massachusetts, considered his home state.

Mr. Santorum’s win in Tennessee reflected his appeal to evangelicals, an important part of the base in the South, on social issues such as opposition to abortion and gay marriage. That was expected to give him a boost in Oklahoma as well.

The race was much tighter in Ohio, a heavily populated Midwestern industrial state that was a test of Santorum’s strength. Ohio is bound to be critical in the November general election, which is essentially a series of simultaneous state-by-state contests.

Mr. Obama’s hopes for re-election once seemed dim because of the weak U.S. economy. But polls show his prospects have improved in recent months, as the economy has strengthened, unemployment has slowly declined and Republicans have ripped into one another in a tumultuous nominating campaign.

Mr. Obama stepped into the Republican race by holding a news conference on Tuesday. He dismissed their almost-constant criticism of his foreign policy efforts and accused Republicans of “beating the drums of war” in Iran. “Those folks don’t have a lot of responsibilities. They’re not commander in chief,” he said.

Asked what he had to say to Mr. Romney in response to the Republican’s harsh criticism, he responded with a big smile, “Good luck tonight.”

Mr. Romney has campaigned as the candidate with the best prospects of beating Mr. Obama. He is seen as more moderate than his main rivals, giving him better prospects for winning over centrist, independent voters who often swing U.S. presidential races.

But that perceived moderation, as well as shifts in positions on abortion and other core social issues, has made him vulnerable to attacks by Gingrich and Santorum, who have challenged his conservative credentials.

Mr. Romney’s campaign was staggered when Santorum won a pair of caucuses in Colorado and Minnesota and a nonbinding Missouri primary on Feb. 7. But Romney entered Super Tuesday on a winning streak. He captured the Washington state caucuses last Saturday, days after winning a little-contested primary in Arizona and a hard-fought one in his home state of Michigan. He narrowly won the Maine caucuses earlier in February.

Other states voting Tuesday were North Dakota, Idaho and Alaska, all of which had caucuses.